Food, Glorious Food (and some - not quite so glorious)

During each of my 3 stays in Bali I’ve eaten widely and sampled many local dishes.  Some have been the “grand” foods in the sense of being served on special occasions or in special places.  Most have been simple dishes.  Sometimes, but not often, I made a bad or just funny choice – but lived to tell the tale, and laugh about it.

Every day foods

In the evening the small food vendors come out along Dalung Permai and take up their positions in clearings and in front of shops, just a few minutes walk from campus.  Grilled corn is popular.   Usually it is not as sweet as the corn I’m used to.

Dalung corn seller

Against the wall beside the busy road is the man flame-grilling fish. I captured him on a quiet night – sometimes the flame is 2 metres high! The basted grilled fish is just delicious and it’s hard to walk past and ignore the aromas.

Just 1 minute from the campus gate is Warung Bali. A “warung” is a small food “store” – sometimes but rarely as grand as a “cafe” and sometimes nothing more a serving area under a tarpaulin with a few stools for customers.   Warung Bali is small, friendly and has just 4 items on the menu on the front post.  This is “fu yung hai”, a vegetable omelette with sweet chilli sauce, served with a plate of boiled rice.  I have enjoyed many of these meals.

"Fu yung hai" at Warung Bali

This arrangement gives new meaning to “fan forced cooking”.  Everywhere small street vendors have little stalls with a metal tray of coals to grill the sate.  Some fan the coals by hand, some use a small battery powered fan aligned with the grill, and others ……  well, “that’s not a fan, THIS is a fan!” 

It doesn't just use a domestic fan but also incorporates an industrial blower to provide turbocharged grilling for the steady stream of “sate kambing” (goat sate, as Muslims don’t eat the more usual pork sate found everywhere in Bali).  Unless eaten as a snack straight from the coals, sate Kambing is usually served with a small bowl of “gule”, a thin broth with chunks of (goat) meat which is spooned over the plain rice to flavour it.  It’s quite tasty.

The next plate wont win any awards for presentation or imagination.  It’s yesterday’s lunch in the small student canteen - “nasi campur” (rice with a “mix” of things.  The rice provides the bulk of the meal and the customer chooses from whatever is available on the day – some crumbed chicken, corn cakes, fried tempe (matured soy), beans with spice (perhaps a bit too much yesterday) and something I mistook for something else but which turned out to be fried chicken liver complete with a kidney attached.  Hmm, “rubbery” and I’m not mispronouncing “lovely”!  Still, cheap and reasonably satisfying, if somewhat monotonous.

Special places and occasions

This brings back pleasant memories of an evening cooking class hosted by Wayan (right of picture) and his wife Puspa in the family compound in the hills to the north of Ubud, Bali.  (Paon-Bali Cooking Classes)

Here Wayan and his assistant are hand fanning and turning the Balinese style sate.  The meat is pounded with a blend of spices into a soft coarse paste which is moulded onto flat sate sticks (it won’t stick to the normal thin round sticks).  At right of frame is the hearth of a Balinese kitchen with typical “kitchen appliances”.

At a dinner on campus last week the spit roasted “Babi Guling” was the delicious highlight of the Balinese meal.  There is regional variation in spices and preparation, and many would say that the area around Gianyar produces the best dishes.

And speaking of the regency of Gianyar, here is another regional favourite – flame grilled chicken.  The small birds are partly deboned, flattened, basted and grilled in wire racks over coals.  They are displayed and sold on the skewers.  I do find the little head tends to dampen my enjoyment.

Food …. memories.  Last year in Ubud Judy and I enjoyed a wonderful meal in an open-sided restaurant with a rice field on one side and a lotus pond on another.  It was a picture postcard setting.  The house specialty that evening was “bebek” - spiced and roasted local duck.  What a treat.  What a memory.

The next picture is about technique.  You can’t see the food, so take my word that it was delicious.  Here whole fish from the pond at the Warung Mina (in eastern Bali) are seasoned, wrapped in layers of a papery bark and banana leaf and then baked over coals.  The fish partly bakes and partly steams producing wonderful flavours and textures.

An unusual menu item

Last year at the strangely named “Black Jack” cafe we enjoyed a meal with a student friend (he and Judy are in the background of the picture).  On the menu for dessert (or afters) were fruit flavoured hookahs.  I’ve seen this at several places including cafes on the beach at upmarket Seminyak.

 

A happy hookah

The non-tobacco water pipes can be enjoyed in a variety of flavours – strawberry, cola, bubble gum,  chocolate, peach, mint cappuccino and more.  This patron looked like he had enjoyed more than a bit of bubble gum bliss – definitely a happy hookah.

My mistake and spelling errors

Read the fine print - it's porridge, not spices.

I keep a couple of packets of “mie goreng” (2 minute fried noodles) on hand as a quick emergency meal.  They are usually chicken flavoured, so when I spotted the packet with “fish flavours” I thought I’d try the new taste.  I was in a hurry and mistakenly read “bubur” as “bumbu” (spices).  At my room I eagerly opened the packet, poured the contents into my bowl, and found I’d bought fish flavoured porridge.  As a “once off” it wasn’t too bad, but I’ll stick to “once off”.

Chilly sardines!

Watch out – the cold sardines are really quite hot (chilli).  The shop assistants look on in amusement, no doubt wondering why a tin of sardines was of such interest.

I always try to carry at least my pocket camera, but it seems the most interesting food items or meals come when I’m not equipped, so they don’t get photographed. I’ll look for other delicacies and post news of them later.

For the finale, here I am displaying my "food credentials".

Looking like (non-identical)twins in our "loud Friday" college shirt
Chef Eko and I display our credentials at a food fair. Not an
 International Man of Mystery, but "International Food Tester".

Last year Judy and I accompanied college students to Kintamani where they took part in the fruit carving contest which was part of a local food fair.  Judy and I were later roped in to sample some delicious food prepared from local ingredients by top chefs and then offer comments. - something a bit more significant than "oh wow, that's HOT!"  As a reward for my contribution I was offered a certificate and when asked for credentials I jokingly replied “International Food Taster”. “international” – yes, and I was tasting food.  Well the “taster” was heard as “tester”, so there on the certificate is my recognition as “International Food Tester”.  Foodies - eat your heart out!

Dinner with a difference

Last week I had a larger than expected teaching load as I filled in for many teachers who were observers at an important workshop held in Bali.  The Rektors (our “Chancellors”) of the  Christian universities  throughout Indonesia had gathered for discussions and to further develop a network of universities.  On Thursday Dr Nyandra, the Rektor of Universitas Dhyana Pura di Dalung (where I am teaching), hosted a dinner in the campus training restaurant for his fellow Rektors.  It was a fun night with wonderful food and entertainment, as the pictures will show.

During the day senior students in the hospitality courses prepared the restaurant and some assisted Pak Eko, our senior chef to prepare the food.

The training restaurant - fit for a wedding

A banner over the steps welcomed guests
(sorry about those power lines, but
 there  was no way of avoiding them)

Welcome celebratory decorations
 at the foot of the steps

One student spent a couple of hours preparing the carved fruit & vegetable decoration.  Although this is not common on this scale in Australia, I've seen many examples here in Bali.

The student fruit carver at work

As the time for the guests’ arrival drew near the restaurant “captain” assembled and instructed those students who would be our waiters.

The singers (students) and dancers (students and alumni) dressed and prepared.  The musicians in the gamelan band which is often present at campus functions brought in their instruments and waited for the guests.

The dancers demonstrate their intricate finger postures

A quick photo opportunity on the steps before the guests arrive

Our student singers

The serving trays were filled.  The fruit carving was assembled.  Chef Eko, resplendent in his “Chefs of Indonesia” uniform took up a “don’t mess with me” pose as he rehearsed his carving technique.

The assembled fruit carving

Chef Eko in his best carving pose

Senior staff and lecturers greeted the arriving guests who soon filled the restaurant. Most of the men wore elaborate formal Batik shirts which made my shirt look quite drab.

Dinner music - Balinese style

Dr Mastra and Dr Nyandra greet guests

Expressive eye gestures are important in Balinese dancing

The Rektor, Dr Nyandra, welcomed guests as TV news cover of the birth of the new university played on the big screen. The band played, the singers sang, the dancers gracefully performed their welcome dance and after a lengthy grace the meal began with gusto. Several Balinese favourites were presented, but my favourite was that renowned dish of Babi Guling – suckling pig stuffed with Balinese spices and basted continually as it is roasted on a slow turning spit over a fire of coffee wood.  It is just a magnificent taste.

Chef Eko - good enough for a second picture.

Babi Guiling - just waiting for appreciative diners.

After dinner a lone dancer performed and then invited guests to join her.  She got very mixed reactions and to our great amusement pursued one guest who declined as he raced to the back of the restaurant and sheltered behind a pillar.

I kept a safe distance but Jan McClelland, a fellow Uniting World volunteer from Adelaide, was happy to demonstrate good form on the floor.

Jan McClelland enjoying spot of dancing

It was a happy night with good food, music and company.  It was certainly a dinner with a difference.

OK, one last photo before the singers go home. Thanks girls.

The Return of the Reluctant Blogger

Today is my 28^th day in Bali and despite earlier good intentions it has taken this long to start on my Blog additions. For the first 12 days I rarely had an internet connection, and even then it was slow. But my main “distraction” during the first 12 days was my role as leader and guide for the group of 14 staff and students from Judy’s school (Torrens Valley Christian School - TVCS) who had come to Bali for a “cultural awareness” trip.. After they left I had 2 weeks of teaching at University Dhyana Pura and a range of commitments (or distractions). One set of classes is over and another will start tomorrow, so I’ll grab at the chance for some reflection on what has happened and start telling a little of what has happened so far.

For a day by day account of our activities visit the tour

blog provided by Matt Tucker, often as it was happening.

 http://tvcsbalitour.wordpress.com/

Departure

Our mixed group left Adelaide on a Virgin Australia direct flight to Bali on Wednesday 27^th June. Some family members came to see us off, and I suppose to wonder how well their sons and daughters would manage on what was the first trip abroad for most, and even the first plane flight for a few.

Posing for the “farewell” pictures at Adelaide Airport.  Our bright red team shirts made it an easy job to spot each other in crowds.

The flight took 5.5 hours and was largely uneventful (I’m happy not to encounter “events”) although a lucky few passengers got good views of Ayers Rock not too far off our track. The time passed quickly (dare I say “flew”?) and soon we were filling out Indonesian arrival cards and preparing for landing.

Arrival

The humidity and warmth, especially after leaving cool Adelaide, was immediately apparent as we descended the steps and boarded the shuttle bus for the terminal building. They few who had changed into lighter clothes on the plane had that “don’t you wish you changed, too?” look of satisfaction. I had warned the group that we could be in for lengthy delays in arrival processing, but as we had arrived at a rare quiet time there were few other passengers around. We bought visas, passed through immigration and custom inspections all in good time. Outside the heat hit us as we sought out and recognised the familiar faces of Steve and Nicole Crocker from TVCS (he used to live a few houses away in my street at home), and my friend Hans Mbot and his wife Imelda who presented us with garlands of fresh flowers which she had made especially for us.

(L-R) Paul, Imelda, Priscilla and Judy on arrival, Bali

After exchanging greetings and gathering our thoughts we broke into small groups to fill the 5 taxis which Hans had arranged to take us to “Grandma’s Hotel” in Seminyak for our first 2 nights in Bali. At the airport the new travellers experienced humidity and bustling crowds. On the roads they encountered the typical heavy traffic and great numbers of motor cycles, the most common form of traffic in Bali.

Our first dinner together in this new land was at the “Lucky Day” café, not far from the hotel. Here we met the advance guard of the working party from the Hope Valley Uniting Church who were staying at Hotel Dhyana Pura, just opposite our hotel. Most of our group tried Indonesian dishes (and even some Balinese specialities) and so had their first satisfying encounter with the local food. Trying new food is an important part of any “cultural awareness” exchange, and in this aspect, as in others, our group were to gain great enjoyment and “awareness” as the trip proceeded.

Reflecting

I’ve walked up and down Jalan Dhyana Pura many times during my 3 visits but I could still remember my first impressions and so imagine how strange the sights must seem to my group doing it for the first time. After a few “not far to go” encouragements we reached Café Moka for our first breakfast together on tour. It was a “cross over cuisine” experience with a mix of the unfamiliar and the familiar, although sometimes treated to local variations which made it less familiar than at first glance. Suitably fortified we took taxis south to our first scheduled attraction – the Bali Bomb Blast memorial. Here we could experience something of the tragedy of that indiscriminate act of terrorism. We read the lists of names of victims from many countries and saw some of the poignant tributes left at the blast which not only killed our countrymen but also many Balinese workers unlucky to be in the area at the time.

The memorial to the victims of
the bomb blasts, Kuta, Bali

Wandering

From the memorial we strolled south, past shop after shop, where the owners invited us in with enthusiastic promises of special discount and so on. A few of our party soon demonstrated quite adroit and unsuspected skill at bartering and haggling, but as everywhere else, the vendor always holds the ace by knowing the real value of the goods. As the 28^th June was an auspicious day in the Balinese calendar we say evidence of celebrations and ceremonies everywhere – here a cremation preparation, there a ceremony or a wedding getting under way. Behind the street front shows the small allies (or “Gangs”) led into the family compounds of the local people. Decorations at the start of one lane indicated something of interest and just a short distance away were 2 young women in local costume sitting on the step of a formal doorway as they waited for a wedding party.

Waiting for the wedding (Kuta, Bali)

After lunch and some shopping for “bargains” (so we thought) we made our way to Kuta Square to say “we’ve been to the heart of Kuta” and then walked for an hour or so up the beach to Seminyak and on to our hotel.

 

A sunbather on Legian beach enjoys the
attention of several massage women

There was still time before sunset to enjoy some beach activity before dinner on the beach. The surf was just too inviting for Trevor who hired a board and took to the water. When we got together for dinner on the beach our group was an irresistible target for vendors of all sorts of things – paintings, sets of knives, trinkets, kites, food, watches and jewellery. You name it, someone will sell it – or fetch someone who can.

Priscilla gets a friendly “nail treatment”.
Trevor demonstrates he’s tough as nails.

Just 50 meters away on the beach a group of Balinese arrived with ceremonial umbrellas, offering and so on to begin a ceremony almost on the water’s edge.

Some of the Balinese who appeared quickly for a small
ceremony on the beach and then rapidly disappeared.

As night fell, a new group of vendors arrived to sell us laser lights, flashing displays, illuminated “helicopters”. Noah seemed to have gained a reputation as a good prospect and was the main target. He eventually succumbed (actually he didn’t take much persuasion) and bought a wallet which bursts into flames when opened. The demonstrations had us in fits of laughter. If at home you see him reach for his wallet, watch out!

Beware – wallet on fire!

After some vigorous exercise, shopping, personal reflection on tragedy, and some contrasting amusement we ended our first day. We were no longer 15 individuals on a tour, we were a group, enjoying each other’s company as we shared new experiences together.

The first of 3 dinners on the beach at sunset.
 It's a tough gig but someone has to do it!

For a day by day account of our activities visit the official tour blog provided by Matt Tucker often as it was happening.

 http://tvcsbalitour.wordpress.com/